Today in History

Today is Monday, Aug. 14, the 226th day of 2023. There are 139 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Aug. 14, 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced that Imperial Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.

On this date:

In 1848, the Oregon Territory was created.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, a statement of principles that renounced aggression.

In 1947, Pakistan became independent of British rule.

In 1948, the Summer Olympics in London, the first held since 1936, ended.

In 1973, U.S. bombing of Cambodia came to a halt.

In 1980, actor-model Dorothy Stratten was shot to death at age 20 by her estranged husband and manager, Paul Snider, who then killed himself.

In 1994, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the terrorist known as “Carlos the Jackal,” was captured by French agents in Sudan.

In 1995, Shannon Faulkner officially became the first female cadet in the history of The Citadel, South Carolina’s state military college. (However, Faulkner quit the school less than a week later, citing the stress of her court fight, and her isolation among the male cadets.)

In 1997, an unrepentant Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing. (McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in 2001.)

In 2009, Charles Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, 60, convicted of trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975, was released from a Texas prison hospital after more than three decades behind bars.

In 2020, India’s coronavirus death toll overtook Britain’s to become the fourth-highest in the world after another single-day record increase in cases.

Ten years ago: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators kicked off their first substantive round of peace talks in nearly five years, meeting at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem. Riot police swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, sparking running street battles. Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.

Five years ago: A highway bridge collapsed in the Italian city of Genoa during a storm, sending vehicles plunging nearly 150 feet and leaving 43 people dead. A state grand jury report concluded that some 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania had molested more than 1,000 children since the 1940s and that church officials had covered up complaints. Puerto Rico officials announced that power was restored to the entire island for the first time since Hurricane Maria nearly 11 months earlier. Los Angeles transit officials said the city’s subway system would become the first in the country to install body scanners to screen passengers for weapons and explosives.

One year ago: A delegation of American lawmakers arrived in Taiwan just 12 days after a visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that angered China. China responded to Pelosi’s visit by sending missiles, warships and warplanes into the seas and air around Taiwan. The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, was there to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials, as well as members of the private sector, to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and investments in semiconductors. Salman Rushdie’s agent said the author was “on the road to recovery” two days after suffering serious injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in upstate New York. A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital, killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children, and injuring 16 other people

Today’s Birthdays: Broadway lyricist Lee Adams (“Bye Bye Birdie”) is 99. College Football Hall of Famer John Brodie is 88. Singer Dash Crofts is 85. Country singer Connie Smith is 82. Comedian-actor Steve Martin is 78. Movie director Wim Wenders is 78. Actor Antonio Fargas is 77. Singer-musician Larry Graham is 77. Actor Susan Saint James is 77. Author Danielle Steel is 76. Rock singer-musician Terry Adams (NRBQ) is 75. “Far Side” cartoonist Gary Larson is 73. Actor Carl Lumbly is 72. Olympic gold medal swimmer Debbie Meyer is 71. Actor Jackee Harry is 67. Actor Marcia Gay Harden is 64. Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson is 64. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is 64. Singer Sarah Brightman is 63. Actor Susan Olsen is 62. Actor-turned-fashion/interior designer Cristi Conaway is 59. Rock musician Keith Howland (Chicago) is 59. Actor Halle Berry is 57. Actor Ben Bass is 55. Actor Catherine Bell is 55. Rock musician Kevin Cadogan is 53. Actor Scott Michael Campbell is 52. Actor Christopher Gorham is 49. Actor Mila Kunis is 40. Actor Lamorne Morris is 40. TV personality Spencer Pratt is 40. Former NFL player Tim Tebow is 36. Actor Marsai Martin is 19.